Templeton Holiday

Today is a very special day. You see, today is one of the best holidays of the year. Not Christmas, not even my birthday (which was last week, thanks everyone for your sweet comments!) Today is Templeton Holiday. Oh you've never heard of it? What a pity.

Templeton Holiday originated in the early 1990's when a young mother from Orem, Utah, decided that before school started and drug her kids away from their care-free lives, they needed one last hoopla to celebrate their independence. Taking inspiration from Templeton the rat and his shmorgishborg at the fair, this day became a day where her kids could do - and eat - whatever their hearts desired. It doesn't always fall on August 7, just any agreed upon day before the commencement of the school year.

It starts out early in the morning, earlier than Christmas, when the kids wake up and go downstairs to sit by the phone, waiting for the big hand on the clock to hit the 6. At six o'clock sharp, the children grab the phone and call the other observers of Templeton Holiday.

The first activity on the agenda is head to the nearest grocery store and purchase all the necessary items. The children, still sporting their sleeping attire, walk alongside the grocery cart grabbing every sugary cereal, sugary drink and sugary sugar treat in sight.

Upon arriving home, the treats are immediately torn into, with dessert coming before - and sometimes replacing - every meal. Traditional Templeton Holiday activities included swimming in pajamas for everyone, playing army men for the boys and some sort of beauty regime for the girls. As long as it was legal, it is acceptable on Templeton Holiday. From sun up, to sun down the festivities fill the day with joy until the stroke of midnight signals the end of the most glorious holiday.